1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detection apparatus and a method for the automatic detection of particles, particularly of biological particles.
2. Background Information
The detection of, for example, bacteria or other biological particles in liquid media is routinely used in monitoring the quality of, for example, drinking water, ground water or also bathing waters. The water-borne spread of, for example, epidemics can be effectively prevented by the global introduction of such routine quality checks.
Common methods for the detection of biological particles are, for example, cultivation methods in which, for instance, water samples are incubated with suitable media in order to be able to determine the type and concentration of particles in the sample subsequent to incubation. However, such known cultivation methods have a number of drawbacks because they require, in particular, a long incubation period of at least 24 hours and necessitate numerous manual steps for treating the samples and incubation media, which require experienced personnel and a special infrastructure, such as a laboratory, for example. Additionally, elements of uncertainty, for example due to manual counting, are inherent to these methods.
Therefore, it is desired that alternative devices and methods be provided with which a faster and more reliable detection of biological particles in samples is possible. In particular, devices and methods are desired that are capable of carrying out the detections automatically, i.e. largely without using trained personnel, and also outside specialized laboratories. Examples for such methods as alternatives to the known cultivation methods are disclosed in DE 10 2007 021 387 A1, in DE 10 2008 035 771 B4, DE 10 2008 035 770 A1, DE 10 2009 048 811 A1 and DE 10 2009 048 790 A1. In these above-mentioned examples, the biological particles are concentrated on filter materials in automatic processes and recorded on the filter material through automated microscopic devices.